United States international Bobby Wood has been criticised by his club coach Markus Gisdol following his red card offense in Hamburg's 3-0 defeat at Cologne on Sunday.
Wood was sent off before the hour-mark for elbowing Cologne defender Dominique Heintz in the stomach after some shoving between the two while waiting for a free kick.
Referee Benjamin Brand didn't see the incident but showed Wood the red card after consulting with his linesman.
And Anthony Modeste immediately took advantage of his absence, scoring a goal in the 61st, then adding two more in the final 10 minutes to put the game comfortably out of reach for the reeling visitors.
"The result is extremely bitter," Hamburg coach Markus Gisdol, who has won only one point in his four games in charge of the club, said on Sky after the match.
"We played a good away match until the 60th minute, and were an opponent at eye level today. There were two key scenes, and it's just bitter today."
Gisdol said that the tactical foul of Cologne player Marco Hoger was one of the key scenes as it was not punished with a second yellow card for the midfielder.
He then hit out at Wood: "Such a red card is inexcusable. I am not interested if something happened before that. You should not pick up a red card there. We just can't accept it."
Hamburg are scoreless in Bundesliga play over 662 minutes, and have picked up just two points from their first nine matches.
They have also only scored two goals, both by Wood. It is the worst record by any team in Bundesliga history and they sit at the bottom of the league table.
The club have finished three games with only 10 players. Full-back Denis Diekmeier saw two yellow cards in the defeat to Frankfurt, while defender Cleber Reis was sent off in the goalless draw at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Next Saturday, they host Borussia Dortmund in the final match before the international break.